


Even in Darkness.

by Thegracefulnerd



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, Eleven doesn't like storms, Eleven has suffered enough, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Let my sweet summer daughter be happy., Mike Wheeler is precious, Mileven, Nightmares, Post Season one-Eleven back from upside down
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-23 22:52:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9685421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thegracefulnerd/pseuds/Thegracefulnerd
Summary: A sleepover at Mike's while Joyce and Hopper are away for the weekend, it should be fine right? Sleeping in the basement, Eggos, watching movies, just like before. What could go wrong? How about the biggest storm to hit Hawkins county since '76?





	

Joyce Byers was leaving for her first weekend away in ten years. The last time she had left Hawkins for a vacation was when Will was three and Jonathan was seven. She and Lonnie had made the trip up to one of the lakes for a weekend whilst the boys had stayed with Lonnie's mother. Needless to say, it had gone less than perfect, and Joyce hadn't left Hawkins since. She especially wouldn't leave now because of what happened with Will, and the fact that she had another child to look after. But it was Joyce's birthday and she and Hopper had been seeing each other for months now. Jonathan, Will, Eleven, even Karen and Nancy had insisted that she and Hopper have a weekend getaway. Will could stay with the boys and they would have sleepovers, Jonathan was perfectly fine home alone (or with Nancy but no one had to know about that), and Eleven of course was more than welcome to stay at the Wheeler's. 

So, that Friday morning Hopper had given his radio and the control of the station to the deputy and Joyce had loaded the car. Although it'd nearly taken the whole city to get Joyce to actually leave. 

"And you're sure you'll be ok with the boys honey?"

"Mom for the _thousandth time __yes I will be fine."_

"Jonathan are you sure you can stay home alone all weekend what if something were to go wrong, or you-"

"Mom stop I'll be fine, I'm _seventeen __."_

"Eleven honey are positive you're ok with staying at the Wheeler's?"

"Yes Joyce. We are ok. Please have fun." 

After fifteen more minutes of bargaining and insisting, with one instance of Hopper threatening to pick her up and throw her in the car, Joyce Byers was leaving on vacation. Eleven, Will and Jonathan had stayed on the porch waving until the car was out of sight. Once Hop's car rounded the corner all three Byers let out a long sigh of relief. Almost immediately Will was running to Jonathan's car ready to get to Lucas's and watch Poltergeist. Eleven herself was ready to go see Mike, and she wasn't 100% sure why but Jonathan was ready to get to the Wheeler's too. They dropped Will off first, watching him run up to Lucas's front door and barrel in, both boys laughing and exclaiming about the movie they were going to watch. The drive to the Wheelers took all of a minute and once they stopped Jonathan hesitated getting out. He looked at Eleven with his signature concerned brother look. 

"I didn't want to ask in front of Will or Mom because they'd just freak out, but are you ok with staying here?" Jonathan asked with that soft, concerned voice he used when talking to people he cared about. Eleven appreciated the gesture greatly. It still felt so foreign to have someone concerned about how she was feeling. Someone who actually wanted to know what she felt and if she was ok with things. She had so many people that loved and cared about her these days it could be overwhelming at times. She did feel hesitation creep up in her stomach and looked at the Wheeler's house. The last time she was here she had stayed hidden in their basement, and had been running from the bad men. Lucas had kept calling her a freak, and if she'd gotten caught she'd known it meant bad things for her new friends. She licked her lips and was prepared to ask to go back to her room where she felt truly and completely safe, when Mike ran out the front door waving and smiling. Suddenly Eleven wasn't nervous anymore. She was excited. She looked at Jonathan and smiled at him, he was still looking at her with that concerned look on his face. 

"I think I will be ok." She told him. 

He just smiled at her knowingly and got out of the car. Eleven followed his lead and was almost instantly greeted with a bouncing up and down Mike. 

"Hey El! Guess what mom rented all the Star Wars movies for us to watch and she said we could order pizza and stay up as long as we wanted 'cause the Star Wars movies are crazy long also she and Nancy made brownies." Mike rushed out in one breath. In fact he had blurted it all out so fast and so excitedly Eleven was sure her pile of curls had blown back from sheer force. But she liked it when Mike was happy and she liked that it was going to be just them. Dustin was sick with something called a stomach bug, and they had reassured Eleven that that did not mean there were actual bugs in his stomach. Lucas had wanted to watch Poltergeist but Mike wanted to finally show Eleven Star Wars, so they had agreed to stay at different houses and meet up tomorrow for a D&D campaign. 

"I'm happy. That sounds fun." Eleven told Mike, still smiling. If it was possible he beamed even brighter and led her into the house. 

~

Everything had been going fine. Everything had been going more than fine. They'd eaten the pizza and watched all the Star Wars movies. Eleven had decided she wanted to grow her hair out like Princess Leia, and they had eaten the brownies Nancy and Karen had made and stayed up late talking about the force and if it was possible to define Eleven as a Jedi. Eventually Eleven had gotten sleepy and she had decided to crawl back into her old fort. Mike had yet to take it down, and Eleven was happy to see it. It represented something to her that no one else could grasp. It was the first time she'd seen kindness, and the first time someone had made sure that she was comfortable and happy. Mike had decided he was going to crash on the couch and that was that. 

~

_Everything was dark and cold. Her borrowed pink dress was torn to shreds and chief Hopper's shirt had been lost a while back. Eleven had to keep running or the monster would find her. It would find her and kill her just like Barbara. Just like the bad man it had taken. She was breathing hard and tears were streaming down her face. Everything was so dark, everything was so bitterly and painfully cold. It smelt like sulfur, and once before Eleven had stopped to be sick. Suddenly her foot struck a branch and she fell, hard. The monster had caught up to her, it's disgusting faceless body merely inches from her face. She could smell the blood in it's breathe and started gagging then- ___

BOOM! Eleven sat up with a scream and clamped her hands over her ears. Tears kept falling down her face and she was breathing hard. More loud cracks and bangs sounded from outside which kept her breathing even faster. A bright light lit up the entire basement and the wind sounded like a tornado tearing through the town. Eleven wasn't sure what was going on but she was pretty sure it was gunshots and bombs and all things that the bad men did. It was over, they'd decided they wanted her back. They were going to take her back and shave her beautiful curled hair that had just gotten to a managable length and they were going to make her be cold and do bad things. Eleven hadn't realized she was sobbing until the wind died down. She was loud and hysterical and half-aware she was going to wake everyone up when the lamp turned on.

"El? Are you ok-oh my God." Mike exclaimed softly. She had forgotten he was down here. She had woken him up. She was about to apologize when another loud boom sounded from outside. She let out something between a sob and a scream and squeezed her eyes shut, her breathing still labored and frantic. She felt hands on her own, taking them down from her ears.

"Hey, El it's ok. I'm right here, you're here it's ok." Mike whispered softly. Eleven still refused to open her eyes but she could feel his thumbs rubbing soft circles on the backs of her hands.

"Bad men." Eleven choked out between sobs.

"What? No, no El it's just a storm. You know? Bad weather." Mike explained reassuringly.

"Weather?" Eleven said. Not exactly a question, but just to reassure herself that it was just the weather.

"Yeah El, just bad weather. The bad men aren't here anymore. Chief Hopper turned them in after all. They're in jail now. They can't hurt you anymore."

Eleven finally opened her eyes to see Mike's concerned, freckled face in front of her. His hair was sticking straight up from where he'd been sleeping, and his eyes were heavy with sleep but he was wide awake and staring at El. Her breathing began to slow and she relaxed her shoulders a little.

"Just bad weather." She repeated, looking at Mike for confirmation.

"Bad weather." He said again.

Eleven gradually calmed down but she was still sniffling. She thought she may even go back to sleep until another loud crack sounded and the wind picked up again. She flinched and stifled a yelp, but didn't freak out as bad as last time. Mike was still there in front of her whispering reassuring things and holding her hands. Finally her eyes felt droopy and she was tired out from the hysteria. She couldn't help but notice Mike looked exhausted too.

"Mike." Eleven asked carefully.

"Hmmm?"

"Will you stay down here." She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Yeah El, sure." He said.

Instantly her shoulders drooped and all the muscles in her back and neck relaxed. She smiled, too tired to tell him thank you and laid down in her fort. They weren't exactly close, but he laid down parallel to her and that was enough. There was distance between them, but he held her hand in his all night.

~

The next morning Nancy crept down the stairs to tell Mike and Eleven that Hopper and Joyce would be away a little longer, the storm last night had caused several roadways to become blocked with debris, but they were fine and hoped Hawkins was okay too. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, Mike wasn't on the couch like he was supposed to be and her heart dropped to her knees. She felt panic bubble up in her throat until she looked over and found him. He and Eleven were in the fort next to each other, not too close but not that far away either. They were holding hands and Eleven's eyes were puffy. Nancy crept back up the stairs and decided it could wait until they were awake.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got to say, I've never had so much fun writing a fic. I love all these characters and their dynamics and complexities. Also, if you read Sister, Sister, my other Stranger Things fic, this takes place in that same AU area. Thanks for reading.


End file.
